Display-tray.



G. R. McALLASTER.

DISPLAY TRAY.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1913.

1,169,845. Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

THB COLUMBIA PLANoaRAPH CO4, WASHINGTON, D. c.

enoiten R. MCALLASTER, or nooHEsTEnL, New T0113:

bIsrnAY-TnAx.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

Application filed May 15, 1913. Serial No. 767,795.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE R. MGALLAS- TER, of Rochester, in the countyof Monroe and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in'Display-Trays, which improvement is fully set forth inthe following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings.

The present inventionrelates to display trays for jewelry and otherarticles of merchandise and an object of this invention is to provide aconstruction which will hold the articles against movement within thetray while, at the same time, giving a better display effect.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in certain parts andcombinations of parts all of which will be hereinafter described, thenovel features being pointed out in the appended claims.

i In the drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of a tray constructed inaccordance with this invention; Fig. 2 is a section on the line a-ai,Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 6-1), Fig. 1; Fig. 4: is adetail view of the shiftable and yielding support for the claspingstrip; Fig. 5 is a detail View of the guide for the support; and Fig. 6is a sectional view showing the tray with some of the clamping stripsremoved and a plane bottom employed in place thereof' Referring moreparticularly to the drawing, 1 indicates the case of the tray which ispreferably a rectangular frame having a surrounding supporting ledge 2secured to the interior near the lower edge thereof and serving as arest for the bottom 3. Arranged in the bottom of the tray are the claspswhich preferably embody overlapping strips, made from sheet metal piecescovered with velvet 4:.

Each strip may be off-set at 5 to provide an overlapped portion 6 and anexposed portion 7, the exposed portion being in a lower plane than theoverlapped portion and overlapping an overlapped portion of a proximatestrip. This arrangement permits a card 8 with cuff buttons 9, or otherarticles with projections, to be held between two proximate stripswithout being bent or deflected as it would be if the strips were in thesame plane throughout their widths.

The strips may be vieldingly supported so that they may move, one towardand from another, for the purpose of clasping articles between them. Thestrips may also be adjustable sidewise toward and from each other forthepurpose of accommodating articles of greater thicknesses than anordinary card, this being due to the fact that, as one strip moves awayfrom the other sidewise, the exposed portion of an overlapping stripslides downwardly on the overlapped portion of the other strip and, inthis way, gives, to the overlapping strip, a greater range of movement.

The yielding supports for the strips may be in the form of spring arms10 each pivotally connected at 11 to -one of the strips preferablymidway between the side edges of such strips, thus permittingone sideedge of such strip to rest upon the bottom 3 and serve as a fulcrum onwhich the strip swings away from the adjacent strip. In this instance,each strip has two spring arms connected thereto and each of thesespring arms, in order to give greater resiliency, is connected to acoiled spring 11.

It willbe noted that the spring arms 10 are pivotally connected to theclasping strips at a point substantially midway between the two sideedges of said strip. WVith this arrangement, the strips may be said tobe mounted so as to float as the fulcrumed edge of each strip restsloosely upon the bottom 3 and the guide or channel members 13, thuspermitting an article to be passed below the fulcrumed edge of the stripas will be seen by referring to the hatpin shown at 18 in Fig. 2 of thedrawings, the hat-pin being passed between two clasping strips and thenbelow the fulcrumed edges ofa number of other of said strips. Largecards and scarf pins may also be held in the same manner.

In addition to giving greater resiliency to the spring arms 10, thesecoil springs serve for retaining the strips in position while, at thesame time, permitting relative adjustment of the strips. To this end,the bottom of the tray is provided with longitudinal ways in the form ofsubstantially closed channels 13, the springs being mounted in saidchannels and the arms 10 extending through narrow slots 14 in the topsof the channels. To anchor each spring against turning at one end, anarm 15 is provided on the spring for cooperation with the inner wall ofone of the channels 13. Preferably these channels 13 are arranged inslots in the bottom 3 in order that the overlapping clasping strips mayrest on the bottom 3 of the tray. It is apparent that the springs 12 maymove longitudinally in the channels 13 and, in this way, the overlappingstrips are adjustable sidewise relatively to each other. It is apparenthowever that the channel piece may be supported incthe tray in any othermanner.

The channel pieces 13 are removable from the slots in the bottom 3 and,being open at their ends, permit the springs to be with drawn from thechannels so that any number of the strips may be removed. WVhen this isdone, the tray may be adjusted as shown in Fig. 6 with oneha-lf thereofprovided with clasping strips and the other half having a Hat or planebottom which is formed by wrapping a piece of velvet 16 about a piece ofcardboard 17 conforming in size to the portion of thebottom of the trayfrom which the strips have been removed.

In using the tray, either the articles themselves or cards to which thearticles are attached, are introduced between two proximate strips bylifting upon the overlapping strip. If the articles are in the form ofcards holding the jewelry, the strips are moved close together, as shownin Fig. 2, but if the articles are thicker than cards, the strips aremoved sidewise away from each other, in which instance one or more ofthe strips will have to be detached entirely from the tray in order togive room for the greater separation.

With atray constructed in accordance with this invention, it is possibleto hold the jewelry against movement therein and in a manner to give abetter display, the latter being due to the fact that the articles,especially when upon cards, are held at an acute angle to the bottom ofthe tray. The tray also serves to inform the merchant when any of thearticles have been surreptitiously removed, as the cards can be placedand held in definite positions with relation to each other so that, ifall of the articles are not in such relation, the merchant is aware asto the number missing, it being well known that merchants lose quite anumber of articles from their trays through dishonest customers who takeadvantage of the inattention of the merchant with the knowledge thattheir acts cannot be discovered when the articles are placedindiscriminately within the tray.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Pate t What I claim as my invention and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A display tray having a plurality of clasping strips resiliently heldin overlapping relation and adjustable sidewise with relation to eachother to vary the distances between their lower edges.

2. A display tray having a plurality of overlapping clasping strips, theexposed portions of said strips being off-set downwardly with relationto the overlapped portions.

3. A display tray having a plurality of overlapping clasping strips,each strip being fulcrumed at one edge on the bottom of the tray, andspring means secured to such strips and adjustably connectedto the trayto permit the adjustment of the strips sidewise relatively to eachother.

4. A display tray having a plurality of overlapping clasping strips,each strip being fulcrumed at one edge on the bottom of the tray, andsprings secured to such strips, and adjustably and removably secured tothe bottom of the tray to permit the strips to be adjusted sidewiserelatively to each other and to be disconnected from the tray for thepurpose of increasing the distances between the remaining strips.

5. A display tray having ways formed in the bottom thereof, overlappingclasping strips extending transversely of the ways, and springsconnected to the strips and adjustable'on the ways.

6. A display tray having parallel channel members at the bottom thereof,overlapping clasping strips extending transversely of the channelmembers, coiled springs arranged in the channel members and adjustablelongitudinally of said members, and spring arms on the coil springsconnected to the strips to hold the latter in overlapped relation.

7. A display tray having overlapping clasping strips in the bottomthereof, said strips having spring means acting onthe same at pointswhich will permit the lower edges of the strips to yield relatively tothe bottom of the tray for the passage of articles beneath such edges.

GEORGE E. MoALLASTER.

Witnesses:

HAROLD H. SIMMs, ADA M. lVrIrrMoRE.

Washington, I). C.

